The Emerald Pendant
by Snape'sdoelily
Summary: A cursed object makes its way into Hogwarts and the resulting chaos that ensues creates the beginning of a bond between a certain teacher and a certain boy-who-lived. Takes place in third year. Warnings: violence, possible abuse scenes in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

"Done!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, as he slammed his quill down with so much force on the table that Hermione ended up drawing a line upwards on her paper, slashing through Ulric the Oddball's name in her history of magic essay. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she did a quick reverse spell on her paper and looked up at Harry's apologetic face.

"Sorry 'Mione," he said with sincerity, glancing abashedly at Hermione's three foot long essay.

"Its okay Harry," she replied easily. "What did you finish?" She questioned, to prevent him thinking his recklessness really upset her.

"The extra credit potions assignment!" He exclaimed with renewed vigor. " I worked on it all week long and I really think I got it down finally."

"Where did you find information on the caxambu style borborygmus potion?! I checked all over the library and couldn't find anything besides a few mentionings of it!" Hermione finished her rant with a huff, looking surly that Harry found a book when she couldn't. Ron and Harry simply rolled their eyes at her antics as Harry continued.

" I ordered it from Borgin and Burkes. It's a really obscure book called 'The Lost Spells and Potions of Medieval Torture' its rather large, and disturbing," he explained, pulling a heavy dark brown book covered in stains and crusted on cobwebs out of his rucksack and pushing it across the table to Hermione, who grabbed it gingerly as though it was an early and expensive christmas present.

"It reeks of mildew and rat droppings!" Ron complained, pinching his nose with two fingers and making a face at it as though he thought it might bite him.

"Oh relax Ron, it's perfectly harmless," Hermione chastised him gently. "I wish I had thought to check outside the school for information on it. I doubt I will have time to write it now, Double Potions is in thirty minutes." She looked truly dismayed at the thought of missing out on extra work.

It was Ron's turn to chastise her, as she was at the top of their class in potions. "Oh relax Hermione," He mocked, doing an overly high pitched version of her voice, "It's not like you can get a better grade in potions anyway," He pointed out truthfully, his voice returning to normal by the end of his sentence.

"I suppose you're right," she conceded reluctantly, opening the book to learn the material anyway so she would be ready for any questions Professor Snape might ask. Harry and Ron just leaned back on the couch they were now sat at away from the study table and enjoyed the last twenty minutes they had before having to head to their least favorite class. Harry just hoped he would actually get credit for his extra work, because he desperately needed it after Malfoy had viciously sabotaged his last three potions in a row, making him drop down an entire grade.

When the trio arrived at the dungeons, they were surprised to see that the door was locked and Malfoy and his goons were the only ones there. "What's going on?" Harry asked civilly, taking in Malfoy's haughty stance and his emerald pendant glinting strangely in the low torch light in the dungeons. While he wasn't exactly nice to Malfoy, he was trying very hard to not instigate anything with the teen anymore, because he had gotten meaner than usual this year, and while that was not entirely surprising, it was an odd change. Malfoy was no longer the cowardly type who hid behind his goons, and he had been actually partaking in fights lately, and was more likely to throw a curse, not particularly caring about getting caught, which was odd for the prim and narcissistic teen. He was interrupted out of his recollection by Malfoy's answer.

"If you must know Potter, Professor Snape had to take some idiot fifth year up to Madam Pomfrey for blowing up his cauldron in the middle of class. Oh, I forgot to mention it was that weasel... Fred? George? Honestly, who can tell. I hope your poor family can foot the medical bill from St. Mungo's, It looked like half of his face was gone. Personally I think it is an improvem-" Draco's malevolent speech was cut off by Harry's fist slamming into his jaw, thoroughly quieting him.

"Go, Ron. Hermione go with him." Harry said calmly holding his fists to his sides. Draco was holding his jaw where he had been struck. Ron turned and started running out of the dungeons, too distraught to even look back. Hermione turned slightly, casting Harry a worried glance before reluctantly following after him. That left a furious Harry behind with a stunned Draco.

"You'll pay for that Potter," Draco spat, attempting to recover from his shock at being struck. Turning to Crabbe and Goyle, he said, "hold him down." They grabbed Harry's arms tight enough that he could already feel the bruises forming, and forced him onto his knees with a painful thud. Harry struggled to get up or at least reach for his wand, but when they saw his intent to reach into his pocket, Goyle twisted his wand arm behind his back, and with one painful burst of strength, completely dislocated it from his shoulder. Harry had to bite his inner cheek not to yell out. Once they had him reasonably still in their grips, Draco pulled his wand out and pointed it coldly at Harry's chest. Reminded vaguely of Dudley and his gang, he started to get a panicky feeling in his chest that seemed to throb at the same tempo as his arm.

"You know Snape could show up at any minute right?" Harry said, putting up a nonchalant face in an attempt to repress the spike of fear at Draco's cold, calculating eyes.

"You honestly think Professor Snape cares what happens to you? He hates you Potter. Or did you forget?" Draco twirled his wand menacingly, seeming to be mulling something over. "Besides, it would even be worth detention for me to hear you beg me to stop." Slowly he pointed his wand at the center of Harry's chest. He looked deeply into Harry's bright green eyes, then whispered almost lovingly, "Defodio." Pain blossomed through Harry's chest as Draco slowly dragged his wand downward and to his right hip. By the time he stopped, Harry was sweating with the effort not to cry out in pain. Blood was soaking through his white shirt and outer robe rapidly, and Harry thought for a second he could see the bone of his sternum where Malfoy had started his gouging.

"Do you want me to stop, Harry?" Draco implored, smiling cruelly at him. Harry couldn't open his mouth, not willing to give Malfoy the satisfaction of hearing him give into the pain. "No?" Draco asked, seeming surprised by Harry's resilience. "Fine then, Deprimo!" Draco shouted, with much more anger this time. The resulting pressure on Harry's hip where Malfoy's wand had been pointing was incredible. He felt as though an entire elephant was balancing on his side. With a horrible splintering sound, his hip bone shattered. This time he could not contain the agony. He screamed, sharp and loud, barely noticing as Crabbe and Goyle dropped him to the ground, his head cracking on the unforgiving stone floor, and running as Draco cast a quick silencio and obliviate at him. His voice quickly became too hoarse to scream, but he was moaning in pain, when he realized he couldn't hear anything anymore. He couldn't remember why he was in pain or where he was.

He lay there bleeding for what seemed like a lifetime before he heard hurried footsteps coming towards him. After a minute, Professor Snape's face swam in front of his view of the ceiling and his mouth was moving, but Harry couldn't hear anything. Plus it felt like someone was repeatedly pounding his head into the floor. or was it the wall. He couldn't tell if he was sitting or lying down. What was Snape doing in the Gryffindor common room anyway? He wondered at that, shivering suddenly. He was cold. Really cold. A warm and gentle hand rested on his good shoulder that couldn't possibly belong to Snape. He wondered idly who else was there holding his shoulder, but all he could see before falling into darkness was Snape's obsidian eyes boring into him, his eyebrows pushed tight together in what would have been easily mistaken as worry if Harry didn't know any better.


	2. Chapter 2

Severus Snape was never, by any means a patient man. In fact, some would say he was downright impatient, excluding the times he was brewing complicated potions of course. When it came to playful and foolish fifth years though, he had no desire to express anything remotely similar to patience. So, it was with great restraint on his anger at Fred Weasley's inane disregard for his strict instruction that he toted the grievously injured idiot to Madam Pomfrey. But of course that was not enough, he was required to then escort the unconscious teen straight to St. Mungo's for a grueling ten minute breakdown of the exact contents of the potion that had exploded into the Gryffindor's face. Right as he was about to take his leave, he was forced to stay as the nurses realized they had run out of their stock of skin regrowth salve, so they begged him to brew him a batch. He scowled through the entire process, silently cursing the inept and inefficient ways of the hospital. What sort of hospital doesn't have at least one potions master on site at all times to take charge of the hospitals stock of potions? It seemed like he had wasted half of his day for the incompetent twit, and all because he had disrupted his class. Feeling rather sick of the Weasley brood, it was with great pleasure that he threw the floo powder into the hearth and called "Hogwarts, hospital wing."

Stepping out of the fireplace in Poppy's office with grace, he casually brushed the soot off of his robes and strode out, fully intending to take his leave into the dungeons for a stiff drink, when he was bombarded with questions by the two other redheads. He put on his best sneer in hopes of getting them to shut up. "Quit groveling Mr. Weasley," he said not entirely directing this statement to either Ron or George. "It is unbecoming, and your brother will recover fully within a week I expect. Just in time to serve two weeks of detention with me before easter holiday." The two boys were stunned into silence that he actually told them how he was. Ron looked immensely relieved, while George simply looked like he was debating whether or not he should say what he was thinking. Apparently, his Gryffindor bravery kicked in because what he said next actually took Severus by surprise.

"Thank-you sir... for reacting so quickly. You probably saved his life." George didn't quite meet his eyes as he said this, looking down at his feet and grimacing as though it actually pained him to thank him. Not used to such gratitude, he grunted in George's general direction to cover his surprise, and turned his black gaze to the rest of the hospital wing. He saw Granger hanging back in the background, shuffling her feet and looking oddly guilty. Potter was nowhere to be found however. He thought that was odd, because he was under the impression that Potter's two groupies were hopelessly lost without following him around like baby ducklings. Deciding he had been standing there too long, he swept off before the students noticed his distracted attitude. Whether he liked to admit it or not, he truly didn't enjoy seeing his students in such conditions, and Weasley's bloody face was too fresh on his mind for his liking. He definitely needed that drink.

When he turned down the corridor that led to his potions classroom, and by extension, his quarters, he was glad he had canceled the rest of the day's classes, he could truly enjoy some free time away from the brats that seemed to rule his life. Freezing, he realised he had thought too soon. The hair on the back of his neck rose at the sight of the child lying on the floor in front of his door, bent and disturbingly still. The blood showing the reflection of the torches on the wall is what ended up spurring him into action. Recovering from his initial shock, he ran down the long corridor and fell to the floor taking in Harry Potter's appearance. His startling green eyes were staring unseeing at the ceiling. His robe and shirt were ripped in a line from his upper chest to his right hip, a deep wound showing through twisting cruelly in the same path. Blood was everywhere, pooling on the ground around the pale boys body. He leaned forward, setting his hand on the ground next to the boys oddly sunken hip. He could feel blood soaking into his pants where his knees were pushing into the hard ground. He felt the icy claws of panic freeze him at seeing Lily's eyes looking so dead. How long had he been lying here dying? Had no one else come around? Who attacked him? The wounds were deep and severe, this wasn't just some child's prank. What if the castle had been infiltrated? The thought that the barely breathing boy could still be in danger is what shook him out of his reverie. Leaning over the boys head, he placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and looked in his eyes to see if he was conscious. His eyes tried to focus on the professor, but his pupils were dilated and uneven. Cursing this entire day, he attempted to get the boy to respond.

"Potter! Stay with me, I am getting you help!" The boy didn't move or acknowledge this in anyway, then suddenly slumped, his body losing all signs of tension as his eyes rolled up into his head. Swallowing his fear, the surly potion's master cast a full body bind on the boy, and lifted him into his arms gently. There was no telling what damage the boy had incurred, and he wanted to use as little magic as possible on him until he knew. Pausing for only a second to gather his courage and what was left of his dignity, he carried The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Scare-Him-To-Death bridal style all through the school to the hospital wing ignoring all the students with their wide open mouths as he passed.

~oOo~

After Ron and Hermione found out that Fred was going to be okay, they decided to see if Harry was still fighting with Malfoy. They barely got to the corridor leading to the grand staircase before they were jumped by two very large and invisible people. It happened so quickly that all they heard was Malfoy's voice saying obliviate twice before they were thrust unceremoniously into a broom closet and locked in. They weren't found for hours until Filch came by grumbling and looking for a mop to clean up a particularly nasty bloodstain from one Harry Potter.

Walking away from the closet were Malfoy and his two cronies, and they went completely unnoticed by Snape as he fled past them on the way to the hospital wing. Malfoy's emerald pendant was swaying back and forth with his confident walk as he thought about the look he had seen on the man's face. It was very rare that the callus professor show any emotion, let alone desperation. For just a second, it appeared that the emerald turned blood red when it caught the light of a nearby candle, but as quickly as it flashed red, it was slytherin green again, matching perfectly with his robe's collar.

~oOo~

Dumbledore looked up at the man covered head to toe in black that was currently carving a straight line into his plush rug through his constant pacing.

"I know what I saw, Albus. No student could have done that. The castle has to have been breached." Severus snape stopped and looked wearily down at his bloodstained clothes, then up to the Headmaster's grave face and intense blue gaze. There was no twinkle there in the wake of the attack.

"I understand what you're saying Severus, but the wards have not fallen. Have you asked Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger if they have seen anything?" The headmaster questioned, true concern breaking through his troubled gaze.

"Professor Mcgonagall is speaking with them currently, but they are showing signs of strong obliviation. The last thing they remember is studying in the Gryffindor common room." Snape resumed his pacing at that point. Something was incredibly unsettling about the meticulous planning that must have occurred to pull this off. He felt as though there was something big he was missing. "You don't suppose Sirius Black is behind this, do you?"

"My dear boy, it is hard to say," he responded cryptically as usual, and judging by the thoughtful look on his face, Albus had already formed a theory or two on what happened, but was not prepared to inform Severus of his thoughts just yet. Sighing, Snape gave up trying to figure the old man out, settling instead for taking his leave.

"Severus?" Dumbledore called, just before the door to his office shut, causing Severus to pause with one foot in and one foot out. He looked up at his old mentor expectantly, waiting for him to speak. "Do keep an eye on him won't you?" Snape looked at the headmaster for the duration of one heartbeat before turning and letting the door shut behind him with a sense of finality, not giving the old man a response and heading towards the dungeons.

~oOo~

When Harry next awoke, it was to the smell of clean linen and the thick scent of potions. It was dark, he could tell, even though he hadn't worked up to opening his eyes yet. He thought back for a moment to the last thing he remembered. The image of Snape leaning over him, concern screwing up his callus features flew unbidden to his mind. The air around him felt thick, but Harry wasn't sure if that was from grogginess or the unsettling feeling in his stomach. He lay still for a bit, listening to the quiet sound of breathing nearby. Other than that it was eerily silent. He felt a pang of loneliness out of nowhere, but managed to suppress it quickly. When he heard the sleeping person shifting, he opened his eyes twisted slightly to see who it was and immediately regretted it. There was a sharp pain that started radiating from his chest. He just took deep breaths for a moment before focusing again on who he heard. It was Professor Flitwick. The tiny man was slumped over in an armchair near his bed. Harry felt another twinge of loneliness... and disappointment maybe at the sight of Flitwick. For some reason Harry had thought it would be Snape sitting in the chair guarding him. He shook the thought away and forced his mind to relax and get some sleep, ignoring the questions swirling around his head. Harry barely felt the singular tear that fell down his face.

A few minutes and he was fast asleep by the time the dark man in the shadows moved, ending his silent vigil, gliding from the room without looking back.

 *****Author's note: this is my first fanfiction, R &R, but please go easy on me! This will be a long story, probably over thirty chapters, and I already have a lot written. I plan to post at least once a week, but that may change depending on how much free time I get in College. I have been working on this story for over a year, but I was never satisfied with the way it was written, so I had almost given up on it. I went back and rewrote the beginning completely, and I am working on some major changes in the middle, but I finally feel confident enough to post it. I hope everyone enjoys it, and I am aiming for a slow buildup of the relationship between Harry and Severus. Feel free to critique and give tips, and any insight on if the characters are ooc or not is appreciated. ~Snape'sdoelily~*****


	3. Chapter 3

After his attack, the weeks seemed to pass relatively quickly. Maybe it was just with exams coming up. Both Harry and Fred were fully healed, although Harry had a large scar line twisting down his torso despite Madam Pomfrey's best efforts. Fred finally finished his two weeks of detention and was almost back to his normal self. George seemed to act more like a restraint for him now. He stopped going quite as far as before in their pranks, much to the teacher's relief. Harry was much more subdued after the attack, but he no longer felt like he was in immediate danger. With all of the other things going on, like the attack on the fat lady's portrait and Scabbers going missing, it was easy to push his attack to the back of his mind. Even Hermione and Ron had let up their constant guard around him, and they were seeming willing to actually walk next to him now rather than the protective one in front one watching his back routine. He appreciated the sentiment, but all it seemed to do was put him more on edge.

Things with Snape had returned to normal pretty quickly. After insulting his father so maliciously the day Snape had caught him sneaking back from Hogsmeade, Harry had silently berated himself for ever even thinking for a second that he would want Snape's company. He blamed it on the potions in his system at the time.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the rest of the weekend studying for the exams on the upcoming monday more than they had ever studied before, once again making time seem like a blink of an eye. By the time Sunday evening rolled around, they were so sick of studying and reading and quizzing each other that even Hermione looked as though she didnt ever want to touch a book again. They weren't even energetic enough to walk at a swifter pace than a crawl on their way back from dinner in the great hall. Hermione seemed especially tired. Seeing the desolate and empty eyes of his stressed friend, Ron spoke up.

"What are you doing this summer Hermione?" the lanky redhead genuinely wanted to get all of their minds off of tests. Harry tensed at the word summer, but tuned into the conversation immediately to hear Hermione's answer. If his friends noticed his suddenly rigid shoulders though, they gave no sign.

"My family and I are going to go to the states. They don't have as much of a wizarding society as we do here, but it will be fun to note the cultural differences." She answered with barely concealed excitement. "What about you Ron?" Hermione returned, her sudden energy the only indication that she was excited to think about other things besides tests.

"We have tickets for the quidditch world cup!" Ron burst out, as though he had been holding this in for quite a while. Harry tuned out the rest of their happy ramblings as he tried to imagine his summer. He would undoubtedly be caged up in his room all summer. It was miserable enough last summer when he had gotten no word from Ron or Hermione for practically the entire time. Ron had been in egypt for a month thanks to that money that Mr. Weasley had come into, and Hermione hadn't called in fear he would get in trouble. Not to mention blowing up Aunt Marge. He was sure his Uncle would remember that happening. Grimacing slightly, he looked up, and realized his friends had gone silent. Harry winced, thinking he must have gotten so wrapped up in his thoughts that it was too obvious how reluctant he was to talk about their wonderful summer plans with their happy families.

"Harry we're sorry... we didn't mean to bring you down. We weren't thinking about how much you hate going home." Hermione's gentle voice soothed the worried anticipation that had been gnawing at his stomach at the thought of being stuck anywhere with Uncle Vernon for any length of time after last summer.

"Yeah mate, we didn't mean anything by it, we swear, its just that -"

"Listen," Harry cut across evenly, stopping any more guilty ramblings from pouring out of their mouths. "It is not your fault that my home life is awful. Either of you. I really want you two to enjoy your summers; even if I can't." He quieted for a second, mentally debating what he was about to say. "I'm afraid of what Vernon will do after the incident with Aunt Marge last summer. He is not going to be happy to see me again."

"You don't think he will hurt you do you Harry?" Ron questioned timidly.

"No... I mean, he's belted me before, but nothing too bad." Hermione paled. Ron looked angry. At this point the were nearing the dormitory, so they dropped the somber subject in case of listeners. Once they got inside, they took in the full tables and chairs from all the students attempting to get in some last minute studying. Shrugging, and not really feeling up to any more studying after that topic, they agreed to simply head to bed early so they would be well rested the next day.

~oOo~

Their exams passed by faster than they rightly should have, Harry thought. Considering the countless hours they had spent preparing for them. Harry was probably the only student in all of Hogwarts who didn't want the exams to end, because once they were over, he would have a precious week left before going back to the Dursley's. Not to mention that going back meant passing by the dementors on the way to board the train again. Just great. Harry supposed he should be used to it though. He felt as though the world was out to get him. Voldemort, Sirius Black, the bloody dementors, and Snape, who was being cruel to him as though he had something to prove. He was just about done with the dungeon bat. He was worse than ever before to him, and Harry didn't know what had even changed. Frustration filled him even at the thought of Snape and his crazy mood swings. The only enemy of his that was leaving him alone was, strangely enough, Malfoy. He glared at him a lot, sure, and sometimes he caught him looking his way, but everytime he did, Malfoy just casually looked away as if he had never been looking in the first place. Sighing and shaking himself out of his morose contemplations, he stood to leave the great hall to take his potions test. Sure enough, towards the end of the exam he thought he saw Snape mark down what looked suspiciously like a zero with a vindictive smile when his confusing concoction failed to thicken.

~oOo~

Feeling as though he had managed to pass his DADA exam with a decent score, secretly thanking Professor Lupin for all the extra training, he took a small rest on the steps in front of the grand entrance doors. When Ron and Hermione caught up after their exams, they stood for a while, looking out over the grounds before sitting down as well. It was a really peaceful scene and none of them felt the need to interrupt the relaxing silence just yet.

They had been sitting there together for a while when the wind carried a voice to them yelling something sounding oddly similar to Harry's name. When the trio started looking around for the source of the noise, Harry saw it. In the far distance near the forbidden forest a large black dog was sitting, staring straight at Harry. He stared at it for a second, mesmerized, when an earth-shaking pounding rattled his focus and forced him to look over at Hagrid, who was rather close now. He was wildly waving a paper in the air and shouting Harry's name. While he waited for Hagrid to close the last of the distance, he looked back to where he had seen the dog, but it was gone. Hagrid reached them then, his exertion showing in his beet red face and heaving breath. Unable to speak yet, he held the damp paper out for them to read. Grabbing it gingerly from the half-giant, Harry unrolled it, taking care not to smear the ink any more than Hagrid's sweaty grip had. It appeared to be an official note from the Minister of Magic. All Harry took in from quickly scanning it was the words Buckbeak, freed, and sunset, before he let out a huge sigh of relief and looked up at Hagrid to see large tears in his eyes. He seemed to have at least regained his breath despite the hitches that occasionally wracked his chest.

"I'll never get ter see 'im again," Hagrid wheezed, his voice breaking, "but... at least he'll be alive..." Despite the big tears rolling down the large man's face, he did seem genuinely happy at the news. Harry couldn't help what he did next. Closing the distance between him and the half-giant, he gave him a hug. Ron and Hermione joined in seconds later, reveling in the one thing that was going right. They rested together, chatting amicably about tests and sweets and simple nonsense until Hagrid took his leave, not wanting push his luck at getting to free Buckbeak at sunset.

After waving him off, the trio turned and went back into the castle before a teacher could show up and accuse them of wandering the grounds unsupervised. Inside, it was mostly empty, only a few students were still milling about in a post-exam haze.

"I wish we could see Buckbeak get freed." Ron said wistfully. "its the first bloody good thing that has happened in weeks." Hermione looked thoughtfully at them for a moment, then stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world;

"We can. You have an invisibility cloak Harry." Harry froze, his jaw dropping more in shock at her willingness to forgo the rules than at her tone's implication that he had forgotten about his cloak.

"We can't. It's still in the witch's hump. Snape'll kill me if I go anywhere near it again."

"I'll go Harry," Hermione offered, but her tone didn't allow for even a polite refusal. "How do you open it again?"

"Dissendium," Ron whispered, clearly excited at the adventure they were going to have.

Before Harry could say anything, she was off, yelling "Meet me in the common room!" over her shoulder, her footfalls echoing off the walls in her departure.


End file.
